Beynac

We headed towards Beynac, since its cute stone houses had been lingering in my mind and I wanted to check out a real medieval castle.



The afternoon sun was beaming down on us without mercy. We took refuge in Hôtel du Château, to recharge ourselves with cold drinks and file off some postcards. After feeling like humans again, we drove up to the cliff-clinging castle, Château fédoral de Beynac.

We learned some interesting facts from our knowledgeable castle guide:

• The film, “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc,” was filmed here.
• The castle owner’s wife was the one selling us entrance ticket.
• Due to the Christian belief and the preciousness of water, the sanitary condition at the castle was not good, far worse than the Roman time. (More than 1,000 years ago!)
• In the entire castle, only 2 tiny toilets presented, and they were for the master and mistress of the castle only. How did others take care of their business was a big mystery to me.
• The Plague wiped out more than half of the residents at the castle, but nobody understood it.
• The interior layout was very clear. Would be even better if someone thought of putting a few more toilets.
• This castle was occupied by the French during the Hundred Years’ War. It was used to watch the castle in Castelnaud, occupied by the British, across the Dordogne river.
• The original entrance was tiny and heavily guarded. Nasty stuff would be dumped from above if guards found someone suspecting.
• Cooks didn’t just hang meat in the air to dry, they also hung their babies in the air, not to dry, but to avoid them crawling around and getting into trouble and to protect them being eaten by rats.

My first medieval castle experience was quite a shock to me! Now I understood why the Middle Age was the Dark Age…